1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in apparatus and method for enabling smoking tobacco and other burnable plant substances with substantially reduced health hazards and more particularly to an apparatus and method which uses regenerated tobacco smoke without many of the highly toxic gaseous constituents normally present in tobacco smoke.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, with the recognition of the harmful effects of tobacco smoking, there have been numerous campaigns and programs by governmental agencies and various health groups and other interested organizations to disseminate information about the adverse health effects resulting from tobacco smoking. Moreover, and as a result of this recognition of the harmful effects, there have been many programs directed to attempts to reduce smoking incidence.
The present successes in achieving reduction in the incidence of smoking have been relatively poor with presently known techniques. The present state of the art involves both behavioral approaches and pharmacological approaches. Approximately 80% or more of the tobacco smokers who initially quit smoking after using some behavioral or pharmacological approach to singly reduce smoking incidence, generally relapse and return to the habit of smoking at their former rate of smoking within about a one year period of time.
The behaviorial and psychological approach primarily relies upon behavior modification. There have been several programs which employ reward and punishment techniques to reduce the desire for smoking. However, as indicated above, these approaches have not proved to be very effective.
Another commonly employed approach to reduce the incidence of tobacco smoking relies on substitute smoking devices. The so-called "low tar and nicotine" cigarette has been offered as a means of providing a safer mode of smoking. However, these cigarettes often suffer from the lack of taste to which the normal smoker is accustomed and notwithstanding, these cigarettes do not eliminate or even reduce many of the harmful gases present in cigarette smoke.
One of the most successful approaches to date in reducing the incidence of smoking relies upon nicotine containing chewing gum which is designed to reduce smoking withdrawal symptoms. The use of the nicotine gum suffers from several problems including not only the bad taste and destruction of dental appliances, but the gastrointestinal upset which results therefrom and which also reduces compliance. In addition, it has been found that the nicotine containing gum does not satisfy the craving that most smokers experience for the distinct sensations in the throat and chest elicited by nicotine in the smoke. Over the course of many years of tobacco smoking, these particular sensations have become an important part of and associated with the habit of smokers and give rise to tobacco smoke dependency in most of the tobacco smokers.
In view of the fact that the presently available techniques and substitutes for smoking have not significantly reduced the number of smokers or at least aided in reducing the incidence of smoking in any particular smoker, recent attention has been directed to finding some substitute which will satisfy the craving of the smoker but which eliminates many of the harmful side effects of smoking. It is also desirable to provide such a substitute which will also have some effect in reducing the incidence of smoking.
There has been recent attention directed to the modification of either the tobacco or of the cigarette in order to reduce some of the direct harmful effects of cigarette smoking, but which will still provide the desired sensory effects. One of the common techniques employed is that of the adding of a filter to the cigarette which serves the function of diluting the smoke stream and blocks some of the harmful particulate material, such as several harmful tars and the like. To some extent the filter also blocks some of the gaseous constitutents. The filtered cigarette has met with a fairly substantial amount of success, although it only has limited effectiveness in reducing the direct harmful effects of tobacco smoke. For example, the filter does not remove many or otherwise substantial quantities of the quite harmful and generally poisonous gases, such as hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, ammonia and formaldehyde which are generated in cigarette smoke.
There has also been some attempt to breed tobacco plants with less carcinogenic constituents. However, this approach has also met with limited success. At present there is insufficient technology or knowledge to selectively and efficiently breed the tobacco without the harmful constituents. Notwithstanding, even with the genetic breeding of tobacco plants, there will always be the inherent generation of some of the harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and possibly hydrogen cyanide upon combustion of tobacco leaves.
There is a non-combustible cigarette which delivers nicotine vapors presently under development. It was theorized that the delivery of nicotine and a sustaining of a certain level of nicotine in the blood stream of the individual would satisfy the nicotine craving of the smoker. However, this proposed nicotine vapor cigarette has many shortcomings in that the vapor delivery system does not deliver nicotine to the same region of the respiratory tract as an aerosol such as the cigarette smoke. As a result, there is an excess of taste of nicotine in the mouth which is quite undesirable. The aroma also differs substantially from that of a conventional cigarette. Even more importantly, the amount of nicotine delivered is substantially less than many commercial cigarette brands would deliver and thus, does not satisfy the nicotine craving of the smoker. In effect, there has not been any effective means to enable a tobacco smoker to continue with the smoking habit and receive the same sensory pleasure to which the smoker was normally accustomed and with the elimination of many of the harmful constitutes present in the tobacco smoke.